Morning Monk Alms Giving Ceremony and the Buddha Caves

Monk Alms Giving Ceremony

The alarm goes off very early (4:55 am). John and I are dressed and on the main street by 5:30am. Chairs are set up along the sidewalk of the main street which is closed to traffic. In front of each chair are baskets of sticky rice, disposable gloves and chocolate bars for alms giving. We each pay 40,000 LAK (2.66 CAD) for our alms baskets. The lady in charge of our section also wraps a shawl over our shoulder and has us remove our shoes. We then wait for the monks.

It’s cool, only 15°C. It’s hard to believe that in a few hours, the temperature is expected to rise to 31°C.

Soon the first set of monks arrives. We give each of them alms from our baskets using the plastic glove to grab dollops of sticky rice into large pots carried by the monks. The monks range in ages from middle age to very young (under 10?).

Luang Prabang has 33 temples. It is called the heartland of Buddhism. All the temples participate in the morning alms giving ceremony at various sections along the main street. The alms are used as food for the monks and also distributed by them to the poor. I am hoping that the monks eat more than just the sticky rice and chocolate bars that make up most of the donations. 

Boat Ride on the Mekong River

We have another big breakfast at our accommodations. I am wearing a freshly cleaned pair of pants but in under five minutes I’ve dripped oil from our morning spring rolls on them. Really!

Heading to the riverfront to catch our boat tour to Pak Ou Caves (the Buddha Caves), I see that
the streets are busy with people cleaning the front of their shops, people eating breakfast at outdoor cafe tables and people like us, walking to their boat tour departure points. There are small shrines with offerings by many businesses and I even see a chicken sitting in a tree.

Our boat leaves at 8:30am for the two hour boat ride down the Mekong River to the caves. There doesn’t appear to be life jackets on the boat.

It is calming to watch life on both banks of the river. Things are not highly developed, there are a lot of small crop farms and many signs of fishing. We often see areas along the shoreline that are being enforced against erosion. Bottles are placed in the river as channel markers.

Village Visit

We stop at a small village on the river where they are selling handicrafts, souvenirs and homemade goods. I watch a woman weaving and check out the alcohols with dead snakes and lizards preserved in them. We also check out the village temple.

It is really starting to warm up. We head out again on the river, towards the caves.

We pass a small crop that looks suspiciously like pot plants. It is illegal here. Can anyone tell from the picture what these plants are?

Pak Ou Caves

The caves hold more than 4000 Buddha statues and are still sites of worship.

There are a lot of steps…some high others medium. A good workout. It is now quite hot and I’ve removed all but the last layer of clothing from the chilly morning start.

Boat Ride Back

The ride back takes half the time as it took to get there because we are riding with the current which is quite strong.

John and I agree that we enjoy the boat ride as much as the caves.

Getting Crafty

John and I have a lunch with a view over the river at Saffron Cafe. We order chicken peanut wraps with lots of salad, real lemon juice and John has a beautiful cappuccino. He said that it is so pretty that he almost doesn’t want to drink it.

After lunch, I take a Laotian Batik class by the river at Moon Love Batik (www.moonlovebatik.com). It is so relaxing and fun and for $15 per hour, very well priced. Our teacher (the owner), s very patient and attentive. I would do this again. Highly recommended.

Heuan Chan Heritage

John and I next go to the Heuan Chan Heritage Centre. It is small but very interesting. We have some drinks (non alcoholic) in their shady courtyard before heading to a 5pm yoga class at Grasshopper Yoga.

Just after sunset, the sky over the night market is so beautiful.

The night ends at my favourite “skewers to order” place in the night market. Best meal of the trip so far.